From Cannon Fodder to Star Conqueror

Universal Standard Time, August 17th, 15:30.

8,000 kilometers above the 'Abundance' Spaceport, at the 'Lansford' Military Spaceport—

As the final segment of the Robert IV space elevator project, Lansford Port extended to become the highest point of this man-made structure, apart from the higher counterweight zone.

Serving as the base for Robert IV's defense fleet and the closest federal military port to the border, Lansford Port theoretically accommodated up to 20 battleships, 80 cruisers, 200 destroyers, and more escort ships for maintenance.

However, at the moment, besides a mixed fleet of cruisers and destroyers patrolling the orbit, most of the defense fleet remained docked, occupying only a fraction of the port's vast area.

The entire fleet included:

3 'Kraken'-class battleships

15 'Hydra'-class cruisers

52 'Raven'-class destroyers

Close to 100 escort ships of various models.

Inside Lansford Port's Combat Command Center, dozens of on-duty personnel manned their stations.

But if one looked closely, a third of them were napping, another third were using unauthorized personal devices to watch the military festival livestream, and only the remaining third focused on actual work.

Among them was Ensign Tom, the Tactical Information Coordinator.

His task involved repeatedly filtering data gathered from the port's observation systems.

As the latest data refreshed on his screen, Tom reached for a carton of concentrated coffee—his essential tool for staying awake.

Before he could even pierce the straw, an alert flashed across his screen:

[ALERT: Induction Beacon Signal Detected! Immediate Identification Required!]

The bold red message flashed three times.

Snapping out of his drowsiness, Tom quickly accessed the beacon detection system and shouted:

"Sir! An induction beacon has been detected!"

Major Randall, who had been leisurely enjoying the festival livestream, jolted up at the report.

Undoing his safety harness, he kicked off the seat and floated through the zero-gravity command center.

Only part of the port had artificial gravity zones, and the command center wasn't one of them.

"If I come over there and find out you just broke the equipment, I swear I'll shove an electric probe up your—got it?!"

"Yes, Sir!"

Floating past his amused colleagues, Randall landed next to Tom.

After carefully reviewing the data and verifying the equipment's diagnostics, Randall's expression grew grim.

The sensors had indeed detected an induction beacon, moving steadily toward Abundance Port.

"Pinpoint its location and switch to optical observation. I want visuals."

Randall patted Tom's shoulder and turned to the communications officer:

"Bill! Ask those lazy bastards docked in port if anyone's messing around with fireworks!"

Even the previously distracted communications officer realized the severity of the situation.

Messages were immediately relayed to all docked ships.

Ten minutes later, reports confirmed no one had launched the beacon.

Meanwhile, optical devices locked onto the beacon's coordinates, capturing images of a small engineering ship towing a cargo container.

Seeing the image magnified on the main screen, cold sweat beaded on Randall's forehead.

Despite his usual lackadaisical attitude, Randall's tactical instincts kicked in—but it was already too late.

The port's defense weapons, primarily high-powered directed energy cannons, risked collateral damage due to nearby cargo vessels blocking the line of fire.

A more precise approach was required.

As Randall prepared to dispatch an HCP squad to neutralize the threat, alarms blared across the command center.

---

[ALERT: Unauthorized Spacefold Phenomenon Detected!]

[ALERT: Abnormal Mass Increase Detected!]

[ALERT: Strong Electromagnetic Interference Detected!]

[ALERT: High Neutrino Communication Jamming Detected!]

[ALERT: Unidentified Fleet Detected at Ecliptic 23°, Celestial Pole 52°, Distance 9542 km!]

A cascade of warnings, flashing in bold red, filled the main display.

Automatic detection systems had locked onto the newly emerged fleet.

Each vessel featured sleek, elongated designs with gleaming silver hulls—the unmistakable aesthetic of the Star Dragon Empire.

The fleet's flagship, an enormous warship, emerged slowly from the planet's shadow.

Its polished armor shimmered, reflecting light along its elegant curves.

On the magnified image, the golden-engraved name along its hull stood out:

SENY-BB-24, Dawn's Divine Blade.

Suddenly, a brilliant light beam flashed through the void, leaving an afterimage on the crew's retinas.

The next instant, the command center shook violently—like an earthquake in space.

The enemy had opened fire.

A metallic bismuth slug, heated to over 10 million degrees by a fusion detonation, was compressed into plasma by magnetic fields and accelerated to 2000 kilometers per second via a heavy particle cannon.

The resulting plasma beam obliterated Lansford Port's communications array in one strike.

(End of Chapter)